Worst Fears Realized
by aehawthorne
Summary: When Felicity doesn't answer her phone after already being gone from the Foundry for over an hour, Oliver is sure that something has happened to her. Soon after, Dig receives news from an ARGUS agent that confirms that Oliver's worst fears have been realized- Felicity's apartment has been ransacked, and both she and her mother are missing.


"She's been MIA for over an hour," Oliver stated, standing between Roy and Dig in front of Felicity's computers. He didn't have to specify who he was talking about, though he doubted either of them had been keeping track of exactly how long she'd been gone.

"Well, you did tell her to go home," Dig pointed out. Oliver sighed but didn't tell him that he was worried because Felicity hadn't replied to any of his text messages, which was utterly uncharacteristic of her. The last time that had happened, it'd been because she'd been kidnapped by Clinton Hogue and his Church of Blood.

"I just had an ARGUS agent pick up Sara there," Dig went on, seeming to sense Oliver's unease. "I could have them go back, check things out." Oliver nodded.

"Yeah," he said, voice taut.

"Okay," Dig said, and went to make the call. The moment he did, Oliver picked up his own phone and called Felicity. The worry gnawing at the pit of his stomach grew the longer he listened to it ring.

"Felicity's never more than five feet from her phone," he said, not sure if he was speaking to Roy or simply thinking out loud, his words bookended by worried sighs he couldn't quite manage to hold back. "Something's wrong." Dig reentered the room not a moment later, grim faced.

"The agent I sent to Felicity's place just got back to me," he said. "It's not good news."

"What is it?" Oliver asked, hoping he didn't sound as panicked as he suddenly felt.

"Felicity's apartment's been ransacked," Dig replied. "And she and her mother are both missing." His words seemed to fall with the weight of anvils, striking Oliver's eardrums like hammer blows. For the first time in his recent memory, he felt helpless. What exactly were you supposed to do when your worst fears had been realized?

"So, what do we do?" Roy asked, the same question now running on a frantic loop through Oliver's mind- _Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo_

"I mean, we can't just leave her to the people who took her," he went on. "We can't just _let them_ do _whatever_ it is that they're planning to do to her." He continued speaking, but Oliver couldn't hear him over the still-constant litany of _Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo _running through his head. He tried to stop it or at least slow it down, but to no avail.

What was _wrong_ with him? His hard won ability to keep a cool head in times of crisis had kept him alive countless times over the last eight years. Why was it suddenly failing him now? Even Felicity being in danger didn't explain it- he hadn't reacted this way the other times that had happened.

When he realized that Roy and Dig had both turned their gazes toward him, looking to him for answers, Oliver took a deep breath and managed to pull his shattered focus back together long enough to say, "There's nothing we _can_ do, except wait."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Roy demanded. "No way are we just supposed to sit on our hands while Felicity is in danger! I would think you of all people would-" He cut himself off, apparently seeing the wisdom of _not_ finishing that thought.

"I of all people would what, Roy?" Oliver asked, in a deathly calm voice he barely recognized as his. "Go tearing through the city looking for Felicity?" When Roy didn't answer, he continued. "Do you think I don't _want _to? Do you think I don't _want_ to tear this city apart brick by brick until I find her? Of _course_ I do, but it wouldn't accomplish anything. We have no way of knowing who took Felicity, or _where_ they took her, _or _what they want with her."

"Okay, we're obviously all a little on edge because of what's happening," Dig cut in, stepping in to mediate the conflict between them before it could escalate, the way he always did. "But Oliver is right." Roy didn't say anything, didn't respond at all except to toss questioning glances back and forth between Dig and Oliver, waiting for one of them to answer the question he was silently asking.

"You were here the last time something like this happened," Oliver finally said. He didn't want to talk about the last time, didn't even want to _think_ about it, but the parallel couldn't be escaped. "When she was kidnapped by agents of Clinton Hogue"- out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dig's eyes widen with surprise and remembered only then that he hadn't been present for that particular incident- "he called me to make demands for the terms of her release. So either that'll happen this time, or Felicity will find some way to tell us where she is. Either way, all we can do is wait." Oliver had meant what he'd said earlier- the last thing he wanted to do was wait. But he didn't see any other option.

"Wait, didn't Felicity have a security camera in her apartment?" Roy asked, apparently still on his "hunt down the people who took her" course. "That's how we tracked down her kidnappers last time." He went to one of the computers, hit a few keys, then muttered, "Damn."

"What is it?" Oliver and Dig asked in unison.

"Felicity's kidnappers wore masks," Roy replied. "Whoever they are, they knew what they were doing."

"So we're back to waiting," Oliver said. It wasn't a question. Roy nodded, though he didn't look particularly pleased by the prospect. Dig, for his part, didn't respond at all. Silence fell over the Foundry as they all settled in to wait.

They had only been at it for about fifteen minutes when Oliver started to pace, tracing a tight, tense circuit in front of the computers. Dig and Roy's gazes followed him as he went back and forth.

"Oliver, maybe you should relax," Dig said carefully, noticing, as Roy did, the way he was quietly but obviously going out of his mind with worry and mindful of how he might react to the suggestion while in such a state.

"I'll _relax_ when Felicity is back here, safe," Oliver snapped, rounding on Dig in a way that reminded him of nothing so much as a caged wild animal. He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"We're worried about her too, you know," he said, his tone carefully neutral.

"I know," Oliver said with a sigh, dragging a hand over his face. "I'm sorry. I just… I can't lose her, Dig." It occured to Dig that he never would have admitted that under normal circumstances, but he decided not to bring it up. Silence fell over the Foundry once more, and Oliver went back to pacing.

An hour or later, Oliver's phone, which he'd left sitting on the table, made a chiming sound, breaking the silence. He leapt toward it, snatching it up from the table with fumbling fingers, his hands made clumsy by hours worth of pent-up worried energy. His featured folded into a frown as he read whatever was on the screen.

"Let's go," he said abruptly, shoving his phone into his pocket and striding over to where he kept his gear.

"Where?" Dig asked, speaking for both himself and Roy. Oliver was laser focused on suiting up, and didn't elaborate as much as Dig might have hoped he would.

"To get Felicity," was all he said.


End file.
